Marketers Laud Launching Of New NNPC, Challenge Corporation To Be Competitive

The new Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has received praise from the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

In order to accomplish the goal of the transition and for the benefit of the country, the marketers also gave NNPC Ltd the task of being more competitive and effective in its operations moving forward.

Both Chinedu Okoronkwo, President of IPMAN, and Olumide Adeosun, Chairman of MOMAN, disclosed this in separate interviews with NAN on Tuesday in Lagos.

President Muhammadu Buhari formally inaugurated the new NNPC as a business enterprise on Tuesday in Abuja.

The change has turned the NNPC from a corporation into a limited liability company, incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, in accordance with the terms of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021. (CAMA).

Buhari, Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd., were praised by Adeosun for having the vision to change the organisation.

“The direction that they have taken is certainly one that has proven to be workable for other national oil companies and definitely a step in the right direction.

“Nigeria will benefit as a country consequently because it means that efficiency will now be one of their drivers rather than politics.

“It means that they will have a preference and deference to a free market rather than a monopoly.

“I wish them a great success because we are now competitors in the downstream sector.”

The move will open up both the upstream and downstream sections of the industry, according to Okoronkwo, who also characterised it as a favourable sign.

“The company is now going to be making a profit which ultimately will be a game changer for our economic situation.

“I believe that they will be here to do business like any other oil company and compete because competition will always bring out the best of any situation,” Okoronkwo said.

He claimed that the future of Nigeria's energy would be greatly influenced by the NNPC's transition and the start-up of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Okoronkwo reaffirmed that IPMAN would continue to support government-initiated measures aimed at enhancing the oil and gas industry.